Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Bracteantha bracteata cultivar Redbrared.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Bracteantha plant, botanically known as Bracteantha bracteata and referred to by the name xe2x80x98Redbraredxe2x80x99.
The new Bracteantha is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia. The objective of the program is to create and develop Bracteantha cultivars with a compact growth habit, numerous inflorescences with attractive involucral bract coloration and long-lasting inflorescences.
The new Bracteantha originated from a cross-pollination by the Inventor in February, 1997, of a proprietary selection of Bracteantha bracteata identified as code number 95-137, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Bracteantha bracteata identified as code number 95-155, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Bracteantha was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia in June, 1998. The selection of the new Bracteantha was based on its red-colored involucral bracts and compact growth habit.
Asexual reproduction of the new Bracteantha by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia since September, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Bracteantha are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The new Bracteantha has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following characteristics have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be basic characteristics of xe2x80x98Redbraredxe2x80x99 and distinguish the new Bracteantha as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact and bushy growth habit.
2. Upright, outwardly spreading and rounded plant form.
3. Freely-flowering habit.
4. Yellow orange and red-colored involucral bracts and yellow orange-colored disc florets.
5. Short and strong peduncles that hold inflorescences above the foliage.
Plants of the new Bracteantha can be compared to plants of the female parent selection. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia, plants of the new Bracteantha differed from plants of the female parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Bracteantha were shorter and more compact than plants of the female parent selection.
2. Involucral bracts of plants of the new Bracteantha were yellow orange and red in color whereas involucral bracts of plants of the female parent selection were pink in color.
Plants of the new Bracteantha can be compared to plants of the male parent selection. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia, plants of the new Bracteantha differed from plants of the male parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Bracteantha were shorter and more compact than plants of the male parent selection.
2. Inflorescences of plants of the new Bracteantha were circular in shape whereas inflorescences of plants of the male parent selection were star-shaped.
3. Involucral bracts of plants of the new Bracteantha were yellow orange and red in color whereas involucral bracts of plants of the male parent selection were red in color.
Plants of the new Bracteantha can also be compared to plants of the cultivar Redbrabro, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,989. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia, plants of the new Bracteantha differed from plants of the cultivar Redbrabro in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Bracteantha were more compact than plants of the cultivar Redbrabro.
2. Plants of the new Bracteantha were more freely branching than plants of the cultivar Redbrabro.
3. Plants of the new Bracteantha were more freely flowering than plants of the cultivar Redbrabro.
4. Involucral bracts of plants of the new Bracteantha were yellow orange and red in color whereas involucral bracts of plants of the cultivar Redbrabro were bronze in color.
5. Plants of the new Bracteantha had fewer disc florets than plants of the cultivar Redbrabro.
6. Plants of the new Bracteantha had shorter peduncles than plants of the cultivar Redbrabro.